Forest Roads and Trails 83 



cciil. Spur trails arc usually short trails connecting lookouts 

 with tin- more important trails. These spur trails iare used 

 only by the fire guards and therefore it is not necessary to do 

 a great deal of work on them. They can be blind trails and 

 need only be brushed out enough so that a horse can get 

 through with ease, which would mean a cleared space of four 

 or five feet. A grade of fifteen to twenty per cent would be 

 permissible. 



The first and most important consideration in trail con- 

 struction is always the location work. Grade is always the 

 determining factor in location. Where it is steep, switchbacks 

 should be resorted to. The methods used in location are, (1) 

 compass and Abney hand level (accurate), (2) hand level only 

 (fairly accurate) and (3) ocular leveling (inaccurate). A 

 route should first be reconnoitered and definitely decided upon 

 before it is staked out. The main points can be sketched in on 

 a map by means of a compass and hand level. On long distan- 

 ces it is best to use both a compass and hand level. On short 

 distances the hand level will be sufficient. Laying out by eye 

 is a poor method and inaccurate at its best. The route should 

 be staked every 50 to 100 feet and blazed, but as a usual thing 

 routes are laid out by blazing only. The blazes should be 

 made close together along the trail so that there will never 

 be any trouble in following them; a long blaze with a hori- 

 zontal notch above is used on Forest Service trails. Location 

 should always be from the top of a hill to the bottom other- 

 wise the maximum grade is apt to be exceeded, because in 

 locating from the bottom there is danger of making the grade 

 steeper than necessary. Location work can be done very well 

 with a crew of three men and costs from $2.00 to $10.00 per 

 mile. 



There are several choices for trail routes, (1) valley or 

 canyon, (2) ridge route, (3) trails crossing mountains, and 

 (4) foothill grade. The use of one of the first two routes 

 depends somewhat on the nature of the country. Where the 

 canyons are extremely steep, narrow, and full of boxes or in- 

 terrupted by cliffs, the ridges and sidehills can be followed 

 without much trouble. Where sidehill routes are resorted to, 

 the south sidehills should be used because they are passable 

 three weeks earlier in spring and later in autumn than north 



